Sprocket-chain.



vU1-T1T131D STATES PATENT f if DoNnLD, M, noBEM'soN, orsrocxron,oALIFoRN1A,ss1GNR To; THE 1to1/r MANUFACTURING COMPANY, orsTocKToN, oALIFomnA, A c'oxaPQRATIoN (,)F CALIFORNIA.

Be` it known that` I, DoxALn M.- Ronnu'rso;\"aeitizen of. the UnitedStateS, residing! at Stoekton` in the county of! San `Joaquin .and Stateof California, have in The in rention partieularlyYW useful .inconnection lwithendleshain trac eniployed 1n.` tractors ofthe self.lay'1ii, tra'ck't` \pel The object yof the invention' ia to provideanimi-moved oiling;r system for the joint bletween the links.

(lenerally4 stated, the invention ooniprises yanoil reservoir .formed ontherlink in posi ton torelealxthe sprocket teer-l1 ot' the wheel,

nger which the. rhaln runs, a'mlarranged to automatically toed oll'tothe bearing surface "between the Yblock and pin-.and dietribute the sameevenl'g.P tl'irvoughoilt `said hearing sui-fare. whereby to lubrieate.the ]oi-nt and keep out dirt therefrom.` Thel au-tomatieop kerationofthe' eontrol of the oilingsysteln taking faelvantzl'ge of the 1n 'thelati're 'Iioeltiona o-t i ,the chain.

drawings. in i lines of Fig.' 3..

,( )nel "torni `wh-lieb nir-innentiommay asytionand illustrated in theaegonipalrving;

Figure l1v shows a side elevation of a chain traek einl'iiulyingunyinvention. l

Fig. 2 shows -a `plan View .of the .oottoni run of the. chain Fig. 3shows a side'elevation ofthe saine. High- 4 and 5 showerose sectionalviews, taken on the correspondingly numbered Figs; 6 to 9,1ineh1sire.show 'sectional `views of the. joint, illustrating 4the. relative4ehanins ilrthe positions of the pinand .block in passing;r` around thecircuit.` .of the ehain.

In illustrating one application ofiny involition, I; show an endlesschain track passing aronndfa*sprocket driving wheel 10 at the rear,and ablank Carrying or idler wheel ll al' the front; The chainA track is madelopposite ends -olE the pin-seated 'on the senoCimar-ottimi;`

Specification of Letters Patent. 'Patented t, 22, 1918` n Applicationnxeamarchl, 19117.? genial No'. 158,836.

up 'of a series of articulatedlink sections'I 12 55. eac-h eniboilyingspaced side bars con-netted" i by a tubular-f hlok i3 pres's'edthereon;l A pin. 14,' lnissing through' the tubular block, connectsadjacent links together.

` Tlul present.inventionprorides an' oiling `60V [ein Hfor" veaehjoint,such thatoil will be, fed thereto automatically by Changes in the relatypositions of the links 4in.' passing iron ie [circuit of the chain.yThisj sye ars and '1 re .rably castintegriil the 'ewith` learing a`space between itseif 'andithe adjacent 'Sleeve or block.l--orfthe.reception of a tooth onv Ya- Sproeket drivingwvioel 10, it`70 A.

being customary in machines of this class' to r1provide two teeth foreach link.

he reservolr 1s` positioned Vnear the onterfave ofthe link so that when.the link on. ,the .bottol'n -run of 4the chain the 4level of the oil in'aid'ieservoirwill be below the piu. and block tor be,lulnicated'thereby. :..F-roni the -reserifoira duet 16 passes upii'ardlyandy forw'ai-d-li' tot the bleek 1 3, being extended along the innerside of one of the side bars soaa to` clear the teeth of thev sproeketwheel.

. Il`his duct is formed 4by providing an enlare'eineilfit filontllesidebar in asking the.

sameandbo. ged.*portionafterV the sleeve-or block ha-4 been "driven inton iinet'rieal'ly thi-ou h vtheshjere on tubulin bloek: and enteringt 1ereservoir a'ta pointi'iart'he bottonitlhel'eof. By having the oilv ductenter theueservoir near the bottoni thereof the oil will not run outwhen the link is on the4 upper run of the chain unless thereservoiimbecompletely filled ,with oill vAdjacent 4'to the opening' invtheeleeve 13 is a longitudinal groove 17 formed on, the "95 pin 'il butonly when adjaeent llinks are disposed in astraight lineon either theupper' or lower run of the. chain said groove in connnnnieation with theaperture in the sleeve. Thiais indiratedpin Figs. and S. The pin 1l islixedto Vand niorable with the link which enih aces the` link carryingthe sleeve h v rea'eonof the pro `mision of a head 1S and `eotter pin11),.at

einbracingv link. Y A

l"hen the link 'is niovingalonir. the ground ina horizontal positionoil' will not be feti nio' thcfslen f-thrpughcux cthesetireibeanng 2 5onetime 1p .of the reservoir,

that when lthe links assume AThen as the' lin@ front idlerl ,wheel 11,

in passingl over ordinary Vgravity to the lower position j but inpassing upwardly and around thefsprocket wheelldthe res` ervoir is','raised above the joint and, oilwill flow through the duct 16 andinoothe aperture formed onv the sleeve. i At this time, however, the slot17, inthe pin, has moved out of registry -with the opening in the to thejoint, owing sleeve which communicates with the oil duet (see Fig. 7)

Oil, however, 1s deposited 1n the duct 16 and in the walls of thesleeve, so

j Y a straight line on the Upper run of the chain, as shown in Fig'.`8pt which time the groove 17 has returned to registering position` withtheoil duct, the said l oove -Will be lfilled with oil. s iex in passingaround thel as shown in Fig. 9, the side of the opening in to theposition occupied d the sprocket driving ,within slot 17 nieves tb; onethefsle'eve opposite will serve? tov SuchA anmarrangement provides.v aconstant supply of-oil for thejoint, whereby to lubri- 'cate'the/bearing sur Y'ace Aand V.keep `out dirt. The oil is Aevenlydistributed and its feeding isautomaticall accomplished', due to themovement .o t e chainfmid an advantage dill feeds is that comfew of thelinks are disposedl at such position Vas to have the head v.ressureof`tlfe oilr'eservoir exerted upon the eating', these being limited. to thefew links passing around the drive wheel. Therefore if the Imachine beleft idle for a long,A period ,paratively @of time-only the reservoircarried by the few links fitting around the drive wheel wouldbeset,,altsubjectato leakage, Whereas if the ordinary'gravity oil cupswere employed all of those on one ofthe horizontal runs of the `side ot'.the link, sa'id tap being chain 1would be subject to leakage whenmachine was stationary.

Theoilres'ervoir is shown as being tapped at 20 :to receive its supplyfrom the outer closed by a screw; pluri, The end of the duct 16',adjacentto lthe sleeveis closed by a screwthreaded plug 21E. A

Various changes in the construction and arrangement of theseveral partsherein shown and described may be employed with- Aoutdeparting from the'spirit of' my inven tion as disclosed in the appended claims.

Havingthus described my invent-ion, 'what the 1 claim and desire tosecure by .Letters f The combination Withan endless chain made up of aseries of articulated link sec- 'tions and arranged for operation in* avertical plane, of means tor applying a measured amount of oil to theljoints between the links of the upper run the chain, --said meanshaving its supply controlled bythe changes through an obliquely mamesinthe relative positions of thelinks inl mving around the circuit of thechain.

Q, The combination with an endless chain made up ofa series ofarticulated link sec tions. and arranged for operation in averticalplane, of means carried by said chain to supply a limited amountof oil to the joints when the links are moving horizon tally along theupper runof the chain.-

' 3. 4The combination with an endless chain made up of a series ofarticulated link sections und arranged for operation in a verticalpinne, ot' an oil reservoir for each link, and means to conduct limitedamounts of oil from said reservoirs to the joints between the links ofthe upper run of said chain.

4. A, sprocket chain made up of a seriesof articulated linksections, thejoint between the linksbeing formed by a tubular block and a pin', andsaid chain being arranged for operation in a vertical plane, areservoircarried centrally and near the outer face of each link, andobiiqu'elydisposed communi- `eating means between the reservoir and iuteriorofthe" 'lilo`tl' said Vcon,in'iunicating means openingy into .thereservoir at. a point above the level assumed by the oil when the linkis in the upper'run of the chain.

5. Thej combination with a sprocket chain made up of a series ofarticulated link sections, having' joints between. the. links formed bytubular blocks and pins, theblock being movable with one link and thepin with the adjacent link. ofy means automatically operable during themovement ofthe chain to supply oil at intervals` to a duet in theblock,the pin having a into registry with'the duct at'tcr the supply yhas beeneut olf, whereby to distributev the oil within the bearing. l

GTA sprocket chain made up of a series 4of `articulated linll. sectionshaving side bars, the joints 4between the links` being formed by tubularblocks and pins, each ink having a. reservoir formed centrally thereon,leaving a `space between it and the adj aci-ent block to receive the'teeth of the sprocket Wheel., and communicating means between the' jointand eservoir extendingalong one of the side articulated link sections,the links being formed.

'f and pins, the block being link and said chain being arranged tooperate ine vertical plane, and a reservoir formed near the centralportion of each link and commumeeting with `the interior of' the blockdisposed duet, said res.-

ervoir being so positioned as to supply oiltio the duct only when movingvertically at the end of the run, the pin having a groove movable, ductafter,

the joints between by tubular blocks movable with one into registry withthe the'sup'ply of oil has been out off` the pin' vwith the adjacentlink and groove movable v 7 A sprocketchain made upof la series of" dtubular block, spaced side brsoonnectd at one end byjshesv tubularblock, a liqservoir Y formed onfLthe ce'liaral"portionjofA sadlink,

und commimicatimvflnfm e gnkiing u l'ongl y one of the sid" bars betweene interior of snidresenvoix'vand thefblock4l``- l 9.` A H mxlfo'rsprocket chain?, comprising spaced Islde bars, amoily reservoir arranged'10 ggptrally thereon andgc'st integral lwith the side` bars, aslevefiuto and connect-` mg the` bars at ono ,moans tohplfw4 8. A lin'kforsproket hanm comprisingy -lthe interior-of the :sleeve` `andre-servoirijii 'ommqnication with euch other, said mean@ y m'cludmg atubular casting on `one of 1lb` side bars extending lto the bottom ofythe lreservoir.

In testimonyy 'whereof Ihave hereunto etl

